Aloha……. “A Solar Boom So Successful, It’s Been Halted”

Photovoltaics proved so successful in Hawaii that the local utility, HECO, has instituted policies to block further expansion.

The new struggle on Hawaii foreshadows what the rest of the country could face as solar moves closer to the mainstream, several involved in the debate said.

It looks as though the solar subsidies have worked too well and created a surplus of electricity that the energy companies can’t make any money from selling to consumers. It pays to be an early adopter of subsidized clean energy investment; but now the technology is so good that there is no incentive for later adopters. Market forces always balance out over time. If this is a real example of how things will happen in other countries, Governments should be paying close attention to the lessons learned in Hawaii.